Apple’s Changes in Europe Have Mixed Reviews

Following the announcement made by Apple in January to comply with the European Digital Markets Act (DMA), companies operating in Europe are responding.

Essentially, Apple is opening its platform to allow developers more freedom when working with the iOS system, including allowing developers to develop or use an app marketplace other than the Apple App Store.

Opera, a Norwegian company, has already announced that it will launch a new web browser for iOS in March for European users. The new browser, called Opera One, is AI-powered and ready for a “generative AI-based future” and will give iPhone users “a true AI-powered alternative to Safari.”

Jørgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile at Opera, said the company “embrace[s] the changes introduced through the DMA, aimed at fostering competition and offering users a more diverse selection of browsers on iOS.” He went on to say that Opera intends to “deliver on this with the AI-centric Opera One for iOS.”

However, along with the technological changes, Apple has introduced a new fee and pricing scheme that has caused some companies to react negatively.

Spotify, Epic Games, and the Coalition for App Fairness (CAF) have all condemned the new fee structure, saying that the changes Apple has made will not support the underlying spirit of the DMA.

Spotify claims that Apple has “proposed an unworkable alternative that developers would have to be locked into until the end of their businesses.” The streaming service also said the new fee structure means it will have no choice but to maintain the status quo because any change would increase its costs – in some instances tenfold.

Apple responded to Spotify’s statement by saying that “under the new terms, more than 99% of developers would pay the same or less to Apple.”

Rick VanMeter, Executive Director of CAF, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the freedom of choice and fair competition within the app ecosystem, claims “Apple’s proposal forces developers to choose between two anticompetitive and illegal options.”

Fortnite creator Epic Games is in a dispute with Apple that started in 2020 over what it considered Apple’s anti-competitive practices. Epic Games tried to circumvent Apple with its in-app payment processing and was subsequently removed from the App Store.

Epic Games’s CEO Tim Sweeney considers Apple’s changes as “malicious compliance” and full of “junk fees” but claims it will return to iOS in 2024.